5.5" Triassic Ammonite (Ceratites nodosus) Fossil - Germany

Triassic Ammonite (Ceratites nodosus) Fossil - Germany #240839

This is a 5.5" wide specimen of a Middle Triassic ammonite (Ceratites nodosus). It comes from the the Muschelkalk Formation in Germany. It was found inside of a hard concretion and has been nicely prepared with a small portion of rock remaining, acting as a display base.

There are some spots of gap fill restoration along the edge where the shell broke away during collection.

Ammonites were predatory mollusks that resembled a squid with a shell. These cephalopods had eyes, tentacles, and spiral shells. They are more closely related to a living octopus, though the shells resemble that of a nautilus. True ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago. The last lineages disappeared 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.

What an ammonite would have looked like while alive.

More about ammonites